Lawrence Kenneth Moss (November 18, 1927 – June 24, 2022) was an American composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

. He was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He held a B.A. degree from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, an M.A. from the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

, and a Ph.D. in music composition from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, where his instructors included

Leon Kirchner Leon Kirchner (January 24, 1919 – September 17, 2009) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he won a Pulitzer Pr ...

and Ingolf Dahl. He taught at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

(1960-1968), and the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

(1969-2014). His notable students include Jeffrey Mumford,

Liviu Marinescu Liviu Marinescu (born February 12, 1970, in Bucharest) is a Romanian composer of orchestral and chamber music. He teaches at California State University, Northridge. Early life He studied music composition at the National University of Music Buc ...

, Julia Stilman-Lasansky, and Susan Cohn Lackman. He received two

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

s (1959 and 1968), a Fulbright Scholarship, and four grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

. Moss composed operatic, instrumental, and electronic music. His music is published by

Theodore Presser The Theodore Presser Company is an American Music publisher (popular music), music publishing and Distribution (business), distribution company located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, formerly King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and originally based in Br ...

, Association for the Promotion of New Music (A.P.N.M.), McGinnis & Marx, Alfred Publishing Co., Roncorp Inc., Northeastern Music Programs, and Seesaw Music Corp. His music has been recorded on the CRI, Desto, Opus One, Albany, Capstone, Orion, EMF,

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

, Advance, and AmCam labels. Moss died in Silver Spring, Maryland on June 24, 2022, aged 94.

References

External links

Lawrence Moss faculty page
from University of Maryland site
Lawrence K. Moss biographyPersonal website
September 5, 1987 {{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Lawrence 1927 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American classical composers American male classical composers University of California, Los Angeles alumni Eastman School of Music alumni USC Thornton School of Music alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty Yale University faculty People from Silver Spring, Maryland 20th-century American male musicians